It seems such an irony that Kinsel and Company keep their barge in the marina when they still owe us some work on the breakwater that they have been paid for. I understand they have permission from the an owner in Sea Shell Shores.
J.R. is making good use of the backhoe while he has it. He used it to lift the two big rotted posts from the mitigation site that were near the wall by 608. He also had the AEP come out and repair the two street lights along the entrance road. The lights had been out for months.
My visit with Karen Meador of TPW went well last week. She said oyster harvesting is still closed in all the bays except Mesquite Bay because of the residual effects of the red tide from last fall. The season ends at the end of April and the ban may last until then. She showed me a power point presentation from the department about the trout population. The fall surveys showed a decline in keeper trout that is consistent with the decline from recent years. The trend line has been steadily showing a decrease for the last seven years. We are almost at historical lows. On the other hand, the bag seine surveys for the last two years showed a sharp spike upward to historical highs on the number of juvenile trout. She said it takes 30 months for a trout to reach the keeper size of 15 inches. With that in mind, she said by late summer we should see an abundance of keeper trout. I can only hope she is right. She did add that it is likely that in May, anglers will be asked to bring the department live larger trout for breeding purposes. They are considering a restocking project for the area bays.
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